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Feed Me Bubbe

As stated in the Boston Globe, "Two years ago, Bubbe didn’t know from a website." Her grandson, Avrom Honig, decided to share his Bubbe with the world, producing an online kosher cooking show from her classic 1950s Jewish kitchen called Feed Me Bubbe. After 30 Youtube episodes teaching luchen kugel, chicken soup, cheese blintzes and more, 83 year-old Bubbe now has her own website, t-shirts, and even a ringtone. Tonight her story will be featured on PBS Frontline: Digital Nation.

Bubbe receives a huge volume of emails from dedicated fans. She inspries her viewers to share memories of their bubbes, and many ask if they may adopt her as their own. It may sound corny, but I began to tear up reading the "Ask Bubbe" section of her website. Especially this message from a woman whose bubbe passed away when she was young.

Watching you, brought tears to my eyes and joy in my heart, as I can only imagine that my Bubbe would have been just like you and what wonderful things I would have learned from her in her kitchen. I look on the computer every morning to see if there is a new recipe from you.

Bubbe does not reveal her name on her website, nor to the press. She told the Boston Globe: “I never want to be recognized. People write me and say I remind them of their own grandmother. So how can I have another name?’’ This is an age where people can make friends and find lovers on the internet; Bubbe's story suggests that we can find family on the internet as well.

Jewish cooking is so much more than recipes. Cookbooks are helpful, but cannot provide the rich experience of family and connection that is at the heart of Jewish culinary culture and tradition. Feed Me Bubbe fills a void for many people, both those who miss cooking with their own bubbe, and those who never had the experience. In addition, Bubbe has created a new forum to educate all sorts of people about Jewish food and tradition; she is even teaching Yiddish.

As someone who has now lost both of her grandmothers, it is a gift to watch Bubbe cook and kibbitz. Regretfully, I did not have much interest in cooking while my own bubbes were living. It's comforting to know that, thanks to the internet, I can still learn to cook traditional Jewish meals from an authentic Jewish bubbe.

Below is the second episode of Feed Me Bubbe, one of my personal favorites, luchen kugel.